City of Heroes: Beginning Of The End
by Capheart
Summary: A young hero is faced with the issues of home life and hero life. As he accepts a mission, he is forced with the greatest challenge of his life. 1-shot, hope everyone enjoys.


**Disclaimer: I do not own City of Heroes, I only own my o/c's Ken and Rogers. This is dedicated to Orionstorm, thanks for helping me out. Hope everyone enjoys.**

An alarm clock showing 6:30 screams for attention and cuts the silence in the dark room. As the clock sounds loudly, a boy turns over slowly and quiets the alarm. The boy rolls on his back, rubs his eyes and turns back on his side attempting to fall back asleep. Seconds later the bedroom door swings open and a woman with long black hair enters, hitting the light switch illuminating the room.

"Ken," the woman yells loudly, "I know you heard that alarm go off. Wake up and get ready for school." Ken lifts his head slightly over his covers and barely sees his mom standing in the doorway. "Don't make me tell you again!" She slams the door hard enough to cause the walls to shake a little.

Ken sits up slowly and throws his legs over so that he is sitting at the edge of his bed. He stretches out his arms, lets out a monstrous yawn and slowly stands up. Sliding his feet into his slippers, he then walks to an open doorway, reaches inside and flicks on a light. The bathroom light turns on, and immediately he sees his reflection in the mirror. He looks at his caramel skin tone, and notices his short black hair, thinking that his barber did a good job. His brown eyes are a hint red from the lack of sleep, and with no facial hair, he rubs his face in exhaustion. Just going to be another long day he thinks.

He opens the shower curtain and begins to run the water. After a quick hot shower, he dry's himself off and puts on a black ribbed muscle shirt and a new pair of blue jean pants. Still with slight exhaustion, he reaches in the medicine cabinet and grabs his electric toothbrush. While gargling, he locates his contacts and puts them in.

"Well," he says as he walks from his bathroom to his closet, "What shirt will I wear today?" He looks and finds a black long sleeve shirt with tribal patterns running along the sleeves. He looks at it carefully, thinks about ironing it then slides it on. He looks on his closet floor and locates his pair of white Puma's, grabs his blue backpack and leaves his room.

"Bout time you get your lazy ass up." Ken hears his mom speak to him as he enters the kitchen. "Your eighteen years old and a senior in high school, I shouldn't have to still be waking you up every morning."

"Then don't." His mom looks up from fixing her coffee and frowns at him. Guess that was the wrong thing to say he thinks. He walks carefully past his mom hoping she wouldn't hit him, reaches the fridge, grabs himself a sweet tea and walks over to the kitchen table, where he is greeted by his little sister.

"Hey Ken," his little sister shouts out as he sits down.

"Hey Jayda."

"Want some of my cereal?" Ken laughs softly and takes a sip of his tea.

"No I don't want any Jayda; you eat all your cereal like a big girl. Hey mom, did Charles change the oil in your car yet?" She turns toward him with her coffee in her hand.

"Yes, after he got home from work at the hospital. Why don't you ever call him dad like Jayda, or at least call him Mr. Charles?" Charles was Ken's stepdad, his father died in a car wreck a few years after Ken was born. Through his life, he always had a dislike for the men that his mom dated.

"It's very simple mom. For one, he's not my dad; he put a ring on your finger, not mine. And two, I don't respect him. Like the saying goes, 'You have to give respect to earn respect', and he just doesn't give me respect." His mom hits him on the shoulder.

"You be quiet, he's sleeping and he might hear you." Ken elevates his voice even louder, hoping that Charles will hear him.

"Oh, sorry for talking loud," he screams out, "Hope Charles doesn't hear me talking about him." His sister Jayda joins in with him.

"Hey Ken, I wanna scream loud too."

"Yea, that's what I'm talkin about Jayda, wake him up. He a man, he don't need to be sleeping that long." His mom slaps him in the back of the head, almost causing him to fall out of his chair. His sister stands up across from him and laughs like crazy.

"Shut your damn mouth boy." He gathers himself and stands up next to his mom. The resemblance between the two was astonishing; people who didn't know them would think that they were brother and sister, except the fact that he stood a towering 6'2 to her 5'6.

"I'm sorry that the truth hurts mom." She looks at him and simply rolls her eyes.

"I'm bringing your sister to school." His mother grabs her purse off the counter and takes his sister's hand. "I have a meeting at the law firm that's for sure going to run late, I expect you to make dinner." Before Ken could even respond back, she turns and walks out the door.

"Ok mom, whatever you say," he says sarcastically. As he makes his way out the door, he feels his pocket vibrate and digs for his phone. He touches the screen and sees that he has a text message from Megan.

"Morning," Ken reads the text as he walks out the door.

"Hey what's up," he replies.

"Just combing my hair and thought I'd drop you a text." Ken lets out a small grin.

"Well good morning to you too. So are we still on for our date Friday?"

"Of course, it's been on my mind for the longest. I can't wait." Kens grin turns into a huge smile.

"Great, I'll see you at school."

"Ok." He puts the phone in his pocket. Finally he thinks to himself, a date with Megan. Megan was known at Paragon High for being, well, the perfect girl. Straight A's, star basketball player, Homecoming queen, plus speech and debate captain, what a girl. While walking away from his porch, he sees a group of Skull members trying to rob an old lady.

"Oh yes, just what I need, a little action in the morning to start the day off right." Ken takes a step and leaps into the air.

Three Skull members are surrounding an old lady on the sidewalk, their ripped up clothing and white skull mask make them look dangerous.

"Make this easy grandma, hand over the purse and maybe you won't get hurt." As the old lady trembles fearfully in her green trench coat, she looks up and feels a sense of relief. "What are you looking at old woman?" The Skull looks up also and sees Ken descending down. Ken lands in front of the old lady and immediately catches the Skull with a punch to the nose. Holding his face in pain, the Skull falls to the ground. The other two Skulls quickly pull out knives and ready themselves. Ken looks them up and down and laughs lightly.

"C'mon guys, are weapons really needed here?" The Skull to his left swings the blade aiming for his head; he ducks the knife, cocks back his left arm and nails a backhand to the temple of the Skull. Ken could feel a small crack as his fist made contact with his head. As the third Skull runs toward him, after seeing his fellow Skull members defeated, Ken fully extends his right arm to the Skull as his hand begins to glow a bright white. Before Ken could release his energy blast, he sees the Skull become engulfed in a case of rock. Confused, he looks behind the Skull trapped in rock and sees a tall man in an all white suit. Wearing green gloves and green sunglasses, he has a small earth symbol on the chest of his jacket.

"Oh," the man yells out, "Didn't know it was you Throne." Ken lowers his hand from the Skull.

"Yea it's me." The man takes a step forward and teleports next to the old lady, giving her a light scare.

"Are you ok ma'am?" The man asks politely.

"Thanks to you two young men I am thank you so much." The lady looks down at one of the Skulls, gives him a kick in the stomach and walks away.

"My bad man didn't mean to ruin your fun," the man says as he turns toward Ken, "Thought you were some kind of low class hero trying to bite off more than he can chew."

"No problem bRock, I was just on my way to school, thought I'd do the hero thing."

"Well you keep doing your 'hero thing', and you'll be a first class hero in no time."

"You really think so?"

"Sure why not? I mean you're eighteen and already a second class. I didn't make second class till my mid twenties." Ken was really climbing the ladder in the hero ranks, being able to harness his energy so well made him a real go-to hero.

"So what are you doing in Skyway City?" Ken asks.

"Well I'm just finishing up a mission dealing with some Freakshow." bRock sticks out his left arm and shows him a rip on his sleeve. "Now I need to go to Icon and get a new jacket." Ken chuckles and remembers his meeting.

"Sorry to cut your story short, but I need to go meet with one of my contacts in Atlas before school starts."

"Well hey; I'm about to head past the train station if you need a port, that is if you don't feel like flying." Ken scratches the back of his head as he ponders the offer.

"No thanks, I could use the morning fly." The two shake hands and bRock turns around.

"Keep up the good work Throne." He waves his hand and in a flash teleports away.

Ken looks up to his right and sees a tall hotel building. He crouches down and takes a leap, ripping quickly through the air as he reaches the roof. He walks to the edge of the building and sees the train station in the distance.

"About a mile away, maybe I should have gotten that port to the station." He shrugs his shoulders and takes a few steps back, gets a running start and heads for the edge of the building. As he meets the edge, he begins to run down the side of the building and catapults himself like a torpedo in the direction of the train station. Slicing through the air as he zips around a few buildings, he makes it to his destination in a matter of seconds.

Approaching the ground, he flips himself forward and hits the ground running, catching himself from the momentum. As he walks up the steps, he pulls out his wallet and shows the attendant his hero i.d, which lets him ride the train for free.

"Ok Mr. Throne, you have a nice day," the attendant says as she looks at his i.d.

"You too ma'am." Ken smiles at her and finds himself a seat as the train gets ready to depart. Wow he thinks the perks of being a hero. Mr. Throne, that one always seems to make him laugh. Sitting in his seat, he begins to get the feeling that he gets when his mom yells at him, or when he sits in class and gets ready for a test. The feeling of being a normal teenager. Trying to relax and clear his head, he feels his pocket begin to vibrate again. He reaches for it and looks at the caller i.d. His contact Rogers is calling.

"Hello?" ken answers.

"Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be here in front of city hall at 8:00. It's 8:02 and your ass is nowhere in sight." Ken turns his head away from the phone and lets out a small giggle. Rogers was always worrying about him, always on his case. Even though he was uptight, he was always there in Ken's time of need.

"Don't worry Rogers, I had a little run in with some Skulls, I'm on the train right now to Atlas Park."

"Well next time let me know these things. As soon as you get off the train make your way to city hall." Ken clicks off the phone and puts it back in his pocket. Rogers was Ken's first contact, and if it wasn't for him, Ken most likely would not be the hero that he is today. Rogers was

also one of the first to notice that Ken had any powers, and over the course of six years has helped him to grow into the young hero he is now. Continuing to daydream, the train comes to a halt.

"We have now reached Atlas Park," a woman announces cheerfully over the intercom," Please exit the doors to the right and have a great day!" The woman on the intercom takes it a little too far on the cheer factor. As he stands up, he wonders how much she must really hate her job. He lets a few people pass in front of him then exits the train. Upon leaving, he looks to his left and about half a mile away he sees the huge statue of Atlas holding a globe on his back. As he walks down the steps he sees a few heroes waiting to board the train. "Low class losers," he whispers under his breath. As he reaches the side walk, he leaps into the air and streams over to the statue located right in front of city hall. Ken lands under the legs of the statue and is greeted by a few of his friends. After saying his salutations, he turns his attention to city hall and is astonished by what he sees.

Statesman, the most well-known of all heroes was standing under city hall talking to Rogers. This was Ken's first time seeing Statesman in person. Wearing his red and blue costume with white stars running down his arms and a big star on his chest, topping it off with a silver helm, Statesman was known as one of the greatest of them all. Strange, what could he be talking to Rogers about?

"Hey Stormbound," Ken calls out to one of his buddies as they stand under the statue. "How long has Statesman been standing there?" Stormbound was a long time friend of Ken's and since they both went to school together they were like brothers to each other.

"I'd say about five minutes or so, why do you ask?"

"No reason, just being nosy." Stormbound laughs as he pulls out his cell phone.

"Well I have to go make up a test for Mr. Atkins, we still on for the mission after school?"

"Of course we are." The high-five each other and Stormbound dashes at super speed in the direction of the school. As Ken watches the two have their conversation under city hall, he sees Statesman slightly turn his head, giving Ken sign that he knows he is there. Statesman turns his head back toward Rogers, shakes his hand and makes his way to the city hall doors. As he grabs the door handles, he looks in Ken's direction, gives him a small nod and enters the building.

"Ken, stop staring like a love sick girl. If you want his phone number I can give it to you." Ken hears Rogers, who is dressed in a classy black suit with black sunglasses. His spiked blonde hair makes him look younger than he really is.

"It's not even like that," Ken says as he walks over to meet him. "Anyway, how in the hell do you know Statesman?" Rogers crosses his arms over his chest. It really doesn't matter how I know him, but maybe if you would have gotten your ass over here on time you could have met him." Ken puts his hands over his face and lowers his head in disappointment. "I'm not going to bash you about your timing, not yet in that case. This happens to be a very important situation."

"What is?" Ken says slowly still upset.

"Statesman has a mission for you." With that said he uncovers his face and quickly looks up at Rogers.

"Say What?"

"You heard me; Statesman wants your help on a mission." Excitement pulses through Ken's body as he hears the news. "Now don't get cocky, it's going to be you and two others on this one."

"So what exactly do I have to do?"

"It's going to be you, bRock and Blockade. The mission is for you three is to infiltrate a laboratory in the Rouge Isles. There, you will find a villain by the name of Black Scorpion." Ken scratches his head as he thinks.

"Black Scorpion? Isn't he the bald-headed guy that wears that itchy mechanical armor?" Rogers lets out a light laugh.

"The very same." Rogers's hands Ken a brown envelope marked with secret in big red letters. "This is just a little background on him." Ken takes the envelope and puts it in his backpack.

"Ok Rogers, now why am I doing this? Why does he want the three of us to bust in the lab?" Rogers looks around, making sure no one is in the distance to hear him.

"This is much classified; don't tell anybody about what I am going to tell you." Ken shakes his head in agreement. "It seems that Lord Recluse, the leader of the Arachnos, has kidnapped three of the lead scientist from Portal Corp. in attempt to create his own kind of portal."

"Well why is the mission not to save the scientist?"

"Don't worry about them, another hero has that duty. Now how about you let me finish talking." Ken pulls his head back as he feels the power in Rogers's voice. "Like I was saying, the weird thing about this portal is that it doesn't open up to other parts of Paragon, it opens up to different worlds." Ken can't believe the words he is hearing. Sure he's heard of heroes coming from different worlds and dimensions, but a man-made portal that can take a person there?

"Ok let me make sure I have everything correct." Ken scratches his head as he tries to review everything he just heard. "The mission is to infiltrate the lab, take out Black Scorpion and destroy the portal, right?"

"Correct, and don't mess this up, it could be your chance to make first class hero." Before Ken can even think of the possibilities of being first class, Rogers digs in his pants pocket and pulls out a blue and white watch.

"What is this?" Ken asks as he takes the watch from him.

"This is your new costume, just press the white button on the side and the costume unloads from the watch and covers your body. You still have the full helmet I gave you right?" Ken shakes his head as he looks at the time on the watch Rogers handed him.

"Hey is this the right time?"

"Now would I give you a watch with the wrong time on it?" Rogers grins and Ken rolls his eyes.

"So anything else I need to know, class starts in about eight minutes." Rogers takes off his sunglasses and looks Ken in the eyes.

"Don't get yourself in any trouble. Everything will go down tomorrow night, I will call you with more information, be ready." Ken puts a smile on his face.

"Don't worry about anything, I'm a hero, I don't get in trouble." Rogers lets out a sigh.

"Get your smart ass to class and learn something." Ken laughs, walks a few steps away from city hall and burst into the air.

Rogers puts his sunglasses on top of his head and enters city hall. Entering the main lobby, he feels a slight chill from the air conditioner being on high. He walks forward and reaches a massive desk with two women working behind it.

"Hello sir, how may I assist you?" Rogers takes a glance at the woman and notices she is a little over weight. Her jet black hair and square glasses make her look somewhat presentable.

"Yes ma'am, I have a meeting with Statesman. Can you direct me to where he is please?" The woman looks down at the desk, scrambles through a few papers and finds a note.

"Mr. Rogers I presume?" Rogers nods is head. "Yes, he is in room 107, just head down the hall and you will see it on your left." Rogers thanks the lady and makes his way down the hall. He passes a few doors and reaches the room. He enters the room and Statesman is sitting at a square table waiting for him. Rogers takes a seat across from him.

"So," Statesman says, "Did you tell him everything?"

"Yes I did, now it's time that you told me everything." Statesman takes a deep breath and puts his arms on the table.

"Someone, or something, came out of the portal at Rouge Isle." Rogers sits up in his chair.

"What do you mean?"

"The portal that was created doesn't open up to one specific world. Every time it is turned off and turned back on, it opens up to a different world." Rogers can't believe what he is hearing. He stands up and begins to pace the floor. "Whoever came out of that portal, more than twenty people have died so far from it." Rogers stops walking and looks over at him. He walks back over to the table, slams his fist down and screams.

"And why haven't you planned on doing anything about this? Why didn't you tell me about this in the first place, matter of fact did you tell anyone?" Statesman scratches his chin calmly.

"It's no concern of yours why I didn't tell you. Only thing that matters now is that your guy destroys the portal."

"And what the hell about this person going around killing innocent people, does that matter?" Statesman stands up and leans over in Rogers face.

"It's under control. You just make sure you do as you are told and everything will go smoothly." Statesman sits back in his seat and claps his hands together, a few seconds later Rogers takes his seat as well. "Now like I was saying, everything is under control. I have heroes looking for the controller who has been on this killing spree. No worries, he will be caught." Rogers lifts up his head and stares hard at Statesman.

"You said someone or something was released from the portal right?" Statesman closes his eyes and gives a slight nod. "I have one question, how do you know that he is a controller?" Statesman stands up slowly from his chair and sighs.

"All these questions Rogers. Are you sure you want the answers?" Rogers tries to stand up, but his body for some reason won't allow him to. Statesman puts his hand behind his back and walks from behind the table. "This world that you are in is so...what is the word...fragile. My opinion is that a simple abnormality.." Statesman swings his arm and Rogers is thrown from his chair and hovers in the middle of the room. "..Can alter things in this world greatly. Do you know what is wanted most not just in this world, but in all worlds?" Statesman opens his hand and slowly closes it. As he closes it, Rogers body begins to tighten and his muscles begin to tighten.

"Power. It is without a doubt the one thing that everyone wants. You see Rogers, I have power and plan to have more. I will use it to rule this pathetic world." Statesman turns his back to Rogers and and spreads his arms open. Rogers strains his eyes and sees Statesman body begin to fade in and out. In a small and quick flash, a man in black pants and a black cloak appears in his place. The man turns around and faces Rogers, who is still hovering above the ground in pain. The mans pale, skinny face and dark eyes burn into Rogers. The man sticks his right arm out and grabs Rogers by the neck.

"Just thought I would let you see my face before I get rid of you." The man tightens his grip and Rogers eyes begin to turn blood red. As the life is finally choked out of his body, the man releases his grip and the lifeless body falls to the floor. He opens his arms again and in a flash he transforms into Statesman. He takes off his helm and sets it upon Rogers body. The man exits the room, closes the door and exits city hall.

Upon exiting the building, he turns toward his left and heads to the streets, where he is greeted by people running toward him asking for his autograph. He lets out an enormous grin and welcomes his fans. Looking on is Ken as he stands on top of city hall. With tears running down his eyes, he looks down at the watch Rogers gave him. On the face of it, Ken can see what is shown through Rogers sunglasses. As he looks at Rogers body as it lay on the floor, Ken clenches his fist and closes his eyes. Kens body begins to shake, and the roof beneath him slowly starts to crumble away. A disturbing white aura begins to engulf his body, and catastrophic noises can be heard at city hall.

Heroes standing under the statue of Atlas and pedestrians walking along look up and try to see what is going on. Statesman, indulged in his fans, look and see that their attention is no longer set on him. He turns around and sees ken looking down at his arm. As ken lowers his arm, he turns toward Statesman and opens his eyes, showing off a crazed white gleam. He leaps from the roof and lands on the street a few yards away from him. Statesman pushes a man out of his way, and sprints his way toward Ken. Watching him get closer, Ken extends his right arm in his direction as his hand shines white. Being only a few steps away, Statesman lifts his arm and a blood red aura quickly surrounds it. As he leaps into the air ready to attack, both men scream out and releases a monstrous blast.

The dust and debris begin to wither down, and the noise from the explosion dies out. The people and heroes stand from being knocked down by the force of the explosion. As everyone looks toward the disaster area, a figure could be seen standing in the street. As the dust completely disappears, the people look upon the figure silently.

**A/N: It took me a while to post this but I am happy that I did. So of course a few questions are unanswered like, who was that guy that killed Rogers, or why did Rogers give Ken the watch that let him see what was going on the whole time through his sunglasses, and who is the figure standing in the street? Well that's the point of a one shot, hope you enjoyed and please review. This is one of my first 1 shots and I am currently working on a Resident Evil 1 shot. I would like to again thank Orionstorm for pushing me and keeping me into my writing. Thank You  
**


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